e360 digest

03 Feb 2010: Parkinson’s Disease Study
Highlights Environmental, Regional Risks

The largest epidemiological study of Parkinson’s Disease in the United States shows that the incidence of the illness is extremely high in many parts of the Northeast and Midwest, strongly implicating environmental factors in the ailment, according to a new study. Based on data from 36 million Medicare patients aged 65 and older, the study found numerous areas in the Northeast and Midwest where 14 percent or more of the population suffers from the neurodegenerative condition, which causes tremors, stiffness, and mood and behavioral changes. Many regions of the West, as well as Alaska, had extremely low rates of the disease, according to the study, conducted by physicians at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Allison Wright Mills, assistant professor of neurology at the school, said that finding clusters of the disease in the Northeast and Midwest was “particularly exciting” because these two regions are most involved in metal processing and agriculture, which produce chemicals that have been linked to higher rates of Parkinson’s. The study, published online in the journal Neuroepidemiology, also found that Asians and blacks developed the disease at half the rates of whites and Hispanics, which Willis said may be because Asians and blacks possess genes that protect them from exposure to environmental factors that cause Parkinson’s.

Yale Environment 360 is
a publication of the
Yale School of Forestry
& Environmental Studies.

SEARCH e360

CONNECT

Twitter: YaleE360
e360 on Facebook
Donate to e360
View mobile site
Bookmark
Share e360
Email newsletter
Subscribe to our feed:

ABOUT

About e360
Contact
Submission Guidelines
Reprints

e360 PHOTO GALLERY

South African photojournalist Adam Welz documents the harrowing relocation of six white rhinos to a region that has lost all its rhinos to poaching. View the gallery.

DEPARTMENTS

Opinion
Reports
Analysis
Interviews
e360 Digest
Podcasts
Video Reports

TOPICS

Biodiversity
Business & Innovation
Climate
Energy
Forests
Oceans
Policy & Politics
Pollution & Health
Science & Technology
Sustainability
Urbanization
Water

REGIONS

Antarctica and the Arctic
Africa
Asia
Australia
Central & South America
Europe
Middle East
North America

e360 VIDEO

A Yale Environment 360 video explores Ecuador’s threatened Yasuni Biosphere Reserve with scientists inventorying its stunning forests and wildlife. Watch the video.

e360 MOBILE

The latest
from Yale
Environment 360 is now available for mobile devices at e360.yale.edu/mobile.

e360 VIDEO

In a Yale Environment 360 video, photographer Pete McBride documents how increasing water demands have transformed the Colorado River, the lifeblood of the arid Southwest. Watch the video.




Top Image: aerial view of Iceland. © Google & TerraMetrics.

e360 VIDEO

The Warriors of Qiugang, a Yale Environment 360 video that chronicles the story of a Chinese village’s fight against a polluting chemical plant, was nominated for a 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Watch the video.

OF INTEREST